The preparation of alkylsaccharides via the acid catalyzed reaction of an alcohol and a reducing sugar containing either 5 or 6 carbon atoms, is well known. Examples of patents disclosing such processes include U.S. Pat. No. 3,598,865, Lew, patented Aug. 10, 1971; U.S. Pat. No. 3,219,656, Boettner, patented Nov. 23, 1965; U.S. Pat. No. 3,346,558, Roth, patented Oct. 10, 1967; U.S. Pat. No. 3,547,828, Mansfield et al, patented Dec. 15, 1970; U.S. Pat. No. 3,707,535, Lew, patented Dec. 16, 1972; U.S. Pat. No. 3,772,269, Lew, patented Nov. 13, 1973; U.S. Pat. No. 3,839,318, Mansfield, patented Oct. 1, 1974; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,223,129, Roth et al, patented Sept. 16, 1980, all of said patents being incorporated herein by reference. In all of these processes, colored materials are formed.
Various approaches to cleaning up the alkylsaccharides have been disclosed including extraction of the desired material. U.S. Pat. No. 2,258,168, White, patented Oct. 7, 1941; U.S. Pat. No. 2,715,121, Glenn et al, patented Aug. 9, 1965; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,450,690, Gibbons et al, patented June 17, 1969, disclose methods for removal of color producing bodies by extracting the desired product. U.S. Pat. No. 3,839,318, Mansfield, patented Oct. 1, 1974, discloses a process for bleaching the colored materials using perborate. All of the above patents are incorporated herein by reference.